BERGAMO (Villa di Serio), Italy

Our next exchange will be in summer 2027. We are looking for an exchange in the UK, Scandinavia or France, but we would consider other European destinations. We would also like to get away at Easter or in early January. We need pet care for our three cats and are willing to take care of our exchange partners' pets.
 Our place is a portion of a larger building, the typical Northern Italian square house with a courtyard in the middle. We have our own stairs and entrance.
There is a main floor and two lofts. The small one is our bedroom, but there is a double bed in the larger one, too. In the summer we actually sleep there. There is a terrace where it’s very nice to sit and have breakfast or dinner, but it usually gets too hot for lunch in summer. Wi-fi is available, and there are two computers. Two years ago we installed air conditioning.
We live in a quiet small town (7000 inhabitants) near Bergamo, and half an hour’s drive from Orio al Serio Airport. In the next town there is a great swimming pool; it takes five minutes to drive there and exchange partners with children appreciated it. Bergamo is just seven km away and Milan in 45 km from here.
Bergamo has a medieval walled  area on top of a hill which definitely deserves a being explored properly, but it’s also great to just stroll areund. There are a couple of excellent fine arts museums, good restaurants and  shopping.  The hills are very pleasant in summer and so are the lakes (Iseo, Endine). Hiking is very popular in the Prealpi, the mountain range near here.
There are several beautiful towns within easy reach: beside Verona, which offers open air opera in the summer, there's Pavia, Mantua, Brescia,  and many interesting smaller places - they all make fine day trips.  Although people consider it more a place for business and shopping, Milan has a lot of historic buildings and some great museums to offer, as well as very good restaurants. Further afield to the West is Piedmont, with Lake Orta and Lake Maggiore, and to the East, Padua, Vicenza and of course, Venice.
We have three cats: a very ladylike female, Molly, two tabbies, Longshanks and his sister, Rosa Calzetta. They are all friendly and have always got on well with our exchange partners in the past. Angelo’s family, who live across the yard, would take care of them if one  wanted to be away for a few days. And, in case one wonders about that, even though we keep a litter box because one never knows, the cats go out through the flap to do what they need to do.
Our car is an LPG/petrol Fiat Panda which sits four.   If one doesn't want to drive to Bergamo, there's a tram across the river (a 5-minutes' drive) that gets there in 20 minutes, with a large parking lot near the stop. It is convenient when visiting the town, or to get to the railway station to travel to Milan or Brescia. There is also a bus service to Bergamo, the stop is very close to the house. We have bicycles.
Shopping is convenient, there's a bakery across the courtyard, a large greengrocer's nearby, and other shops are all within walking distance while a large supermarket is 2 km from here.